Camp Hidden Lake

Hidden Lake is home to an incredible Catholic community, gorgeous views, welcoming meeting spaces and so much more. Dedicated to leading teens closer to Christ, we hope you'll be welcomed home to Hidden Lake soon.

This world does not make it easy to be a good man. What we need are good brothers to help us along the way. Men we can learn from and grow with. Men who’ve struggled and men who’ve surrendered to the Holy Spirit working in their lives. Join us at Camp Hidden Lake for an incredible retreat experience.

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Life Teen Women's Retreats are an incredible opportunity for women from all walks of life to come together for an inspiring, refreshing weekend retreat. Come grow in prayer and sisterhood at Camp Covecrest in the beautiful Georgia mountains!

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The Next Step is a young Catholic’s guide to navigating the somewhat frustrating but wildly exciting halls of high school. Focusing on keeping Christ at the center of friendships and decisions, The Next Step provides the necessary wisdom and humor to uplift any eighth grader as they approach this new stage of life.

You are going to make thousands of decisions today and one of them might change your life. Are you confident that what you want and what God want are the same thing? Don’t leave it up to chance - leave it in the hands of the Holy Spirit.

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5 Things You Should Stop Right Now if You Want to be Holy

Doubt crept into my mind. How could a loving God let this happen to my friend? Fear set in. Would God ever call me to do that? Slowly, my spiritual life seemed to bring more problems than solutions. I wondered, was I doing something wrong?

After many conversations, prayer, and a much-needed retreat, I found some clarity. There were ways I had lost sight of God and the simple, but difficult, path Christ has given me to get to Him.

Some bad habits had snuck into my life. I had grown lazy, comfortable, and indifferent. My questions for God were numerous, but I didn’t bother to ask Him anything. My faith was stagnant, and I could feel it.

In order to restore my relationship with God, I had to let go of the bad habits, the habits that were draining and confusing me. It took some self-reflection and prayer to identify and understand them, and replace them with the better life of Christ, but here are a few things I discovered I had to let go of before I could grow in holiness:

1. Being Lazy

Laziness does not always mean doing nothing, as there are lots of ways to be lazy while “doing things.” Rather, laziness is a distortion of priorities.

For example, playing the piano when I should be working on my history essay can actually be a form of laziness. Yes, playing the piano is productive and beautiful, but since studying should be a higher priority, I am avoiding my responsibility when I choose playing piano over studying.

When it comes to our spiritual lives, laziness means we have mis-prioritized God. We may be choosing the comfort of our bed over listening to our parents and mowing the lawn. We may be choosing social comfort over becoming friends with that student we see eating alone everyday.

Jesus calls us to a high standard of living, a narrow gate, that will bear fruit “a hundredfold” if we live this way. But in order to do so, we need to prioritize Christ’s will above everything else in our lives.

Being free from laziness allows us to place Him at the center, bringing love and righteousness to our actions, because they are correctly prioritized.

2. Complaining

Complaining is a form of inaction. We hide our own need for improvement by highlighting the negative aspects of other things.

I, personally, find myself using complaining as a way of stalling. Instead of addressing the fact that I haven’t prayed for a few days, I focus on how my Church is failing to help me do x, y, or z. My complaints become convenient excuses that hide my deeper needs.

To fight this habit, I focus on one positive thing I can do. Maybe it’s complimenting a friend, or spending more time reading the Gospel. Whatever it is, by recognizing my need for improvement and taking action, I avoid the negative mindset that leads to complaining.

3. Obsessing over Perfection

I was in a small group once, talking about how I didn’t know how if my prayers were working. I was praying but felt nothing, and figured something was wrong with my prayer style.

Then one friend shared an insightful comment. “There’s not really a best way to pray.”

I stopped and thought about it. He was right. An overwhelming need for perfection had found its way into my prayer life. I was looking for a perfect prayer that would fill me with good feelings and miraculously make everything in my life the way I wanted it, but that type of prayer doesn’t actually exist.

When we admit that we are human beings, imperfect and in need of a perfect Savior, God will show us our true value, as an amazing human being, made perfect in His image.

4. Blindly Believing

When it comes to faith, Jesus promises us that even “a mustard seed” of faith will get the job done. He lets us know that if we choose to follow Him, we will find what we are looking for.

Yes, God is mightily mysterious and impossible to comprehend. But, He is also a God of reason, and has given us great reason to believe in Him. Our evidence includes answered prayers, transformed lives, miracles, and Scripture, and not to mention, all of creation!

God has given us great ways to continuously learn about Him, ask questions about what we believe, and feel at peace taking a leap of faith in Him.

It is always important to trust in God when we are lost and confused, but also, out of love for Him, to make an effort to learn more. Sometimes a great answer or new understanding gives fresh life to our faith.

5. Expecting God to do it Your Way

This temptation is a sneaky one. Without much effort, we can find ourselves convinced that God is silent in our lives simply because our past prayers haven’t been answered.

However, upon second glance, it may just be that God didn’t answer our prayers in the way we expected.

The solution is simple: thank God for the gifts you have been given, lessons learned, and the good things in your life. Let go of previous expectations and ask God how to respond to everything that comes your way. When we trust that He hears our prayers, we see Him more clearly at work.

My favorite philosopher is Winnie the Pooh, and my favorite quote of his is: "Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart." Right now, my heart's full of quality time with friends and playing piano with my eyes closed. Trying to let go of pondering my future and live with God in the now.